


To return

by Indira



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Spoilers, Sunday Fluff, The X-Files Revival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-20 16:11:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4793945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indira/pseuds/Indira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Revival speculation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To return

She had left two years ago – he didn’t remember the date. There was very little he remembered about her absence, except how much he missed her. A gaping ache, a constant.

His new suit had been lying on his chaotic bed, between the newspapers articles and the boxes, forgotten for days. 

He sighed as he reached for it, unsure if he was ready to see her again.

-

Walter Skinner was keenly aware that something had transpired in the long years between the time he had saved Mulder – again - and the time he had picked up the phone to tell him about the current role.

A tip-off, a case – abductees with cases eerily similar to Scully’s own – being killed, murdered. The X Files were to be reopened temporarily. It hadn’t taken much convincing to ask Mulder to return, but Skinner was yet to see Scully. 

The room was filled with faces Mulder didn’t recognise and his suit scratched at his knees. He tried to ignore the stares as he walked in, scanning the room for Scully. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved to know she hadn’t yet arrived for the briefing.

“Mulder,” Skinner extended his hand, signalling to the chair next to him. Mulder nodded curtly and sat beside him, immediately reaching for the glass of water in front of him.

“iPads I see?” He gestured towards the centre of the table, “How modern.” 

Despite Mulder’s false bravado, Skinner couldn’t miss the fact that he didn’t even raise his eyes when Scully walked in.

-

“Mulder?” Scully entered the office cautiously. 

Sitting at the desk, with an all-too-familiar poster behind him, in a suit she didn’t recognise and a pot of sunflowers next to his desk, was Mulder. 

It had been months since she had last seen him. The last time she had gone to see him in the apartment he had moved to after moving out of their entirely Unremarkable home. 

She had ended up against the wall, his teeth at her collar bone, her skirt bunched around her waist. 

She’d left feeling more confused than ever, her resolve challenged and her cheeks flushed.

“Oh hey Scully,” He didn’t even looked up from his furious typing, his glasses perched on the end of his nose. 

“Mulder, are you ready to go to?”

“Just give me a second…” He mumbled, still typing furiously, still refusing to meet her eyes. She sighed and walked out, and he was acutely aware – once again – how tired she was of waiting for him.

-

“So how’s life?” He tried to sound casual, but she had always been able to see through his façade. That had been the problem.

She smiled, and he was struck by how impossibly sad she appeared to be. He hadn’t remembered that the last time he had seen her – granted, he’d been too busy unbuttoning his jeans to stop and really look at her, so much so that he couldn’t even remember seeing her eyes.

“I’m fine, Mulder,” Her eyes met his, conveying all the things words would never bring, “And you? How is the writing going?”

“Oh you know, still writing the next American classic. I’ll give you a sneak preview if you like.”

“I would like that.”

“Okay then,” They shared their first real, if somewhat hesitant smile, since they had been assigned the case, and Scully suddenly remembered two young agents, standing in the rain, laughing heedlessly over something she could no longer recall.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, worried – noticing the change in her countenance. She shouldn’t be surprised, she thought – years of living together had meant he could read her better than anyone else.

“Do you remember that first case we went on, in the rain?”

“God, Scully, that was – “

“Years ago, I know – but do you remember? What we were laughing about?”

“I’m not sure I remember I now.”

“Do you ever want to go back there, to laughing in the rain?” She looked at him, the hurt and accusation evident in every one of her words.

“Scully, I…” He sighed, running his hand through his hair. Greying. Time passing.

“I just can’t remember what was so funny,” She turned to stare out the window once more, the trees flashing past as Mulder drove on to Sveta’s house. 

What she did remember was that they hadn’t laughed together in years.

-

He glanced at the clock – 02:46. Sighed, he reached for his phone – some new smart phone that had too many applications and required far too much cognitive activity to answer when it rang in the middle of the night.

“Yeah, Mulder,” He muttered, stretching out after having finally fallen asleep on the couch several hours prior.

He heard a gentle sniff, and suddenly he sat up a bit straighter.

“Scully?”

“Mulder… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have rung.” Her voice was strained, and the egdes of the room immediately blurred around him – his entire focus on her voice at the end of the line.

“Scully, what’s wrong?”

“It’s mom,” There was a pause, and then he heard the unmistakable sound of her tears. 

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m at the hospital…”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” He stood, already pulling on a pair of jeans.

“No, Mulder, there’s no need.”

“Scully. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” He was already on the way out his front door when he heard her faint reply.

“Thank you.”

-

“Fox Mulder, you are a sight for sore eyes.”

“How are you going Maggie?” She was perched up in the hospital bed, a large bunch of flowers beside her – no doubt from her daughter – and a monitor beeping gently beside her. She was all smiles at seeing him.

“Oh you know, I’ve been better,” She patted the bed beside her, clearly meaning for him to sit down, “How have you been?”

“I think you should just concentrate on getting better, rather than worrying about an old stick like me, don’t you think?”

Maggie laughed gently despite herself as he sat down on the end of her bed, looking every bit as uncomfortable as she imagined he felt.

“Dana told me they reopened the X Files.”

“They did,” He nodded, noting Scully’s jacket slung over a chair in the corner of the room, “It’s uh… I don’t know where it’s going to go.” He confessed, not sure what else to say.

“She’s gone to get a cup of tea,” Maggie smiled, noting him registering the jacket.

“Right. So how long do they have you in here for?”

“Hopefully just another night – Dana has been given the doctors hell.”

“That doesn’t sound like Scully. I uh… I saw her earlier. She’s worried about you.”

“She’s worried about you too, Fox,” Maggie said gently, reaching out to take his hand. He was suddenly struck by how much like her mother Scully was, and felt his eyes unexpectedly clouding.

“I let her down,” Mulder admitted, the words laced with all the bitterness and anger he felt towards himself, the situation, the fact he had never been able to once tell her he was sorry. Bill had been right, all the years ago – he was a sorry son of a bitch.

“These things are never any one persons fault,” Maggie offered her gentle reassurance, patting his hand softly. 

“Mom, I – “ Scully’s voice filled the room as she appeared in the doorway, her voice trailing off as she took in Mulder’s presence at her mother’s bedside.

“Hey Scully,” he tried to smile, standing up, “I was just hearing about how you’re giving the doctors a hard time,” Scully smiled, dipping her eyes, as she walked to her mother’s side and offered her the cup of tea in her hand.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you’d be here – I would’ve got you a tea otherwise.”

“No, no – it’s fine. I should be getting going anyway,” He gestured needlessly towards the door, “Feel better soon Maggie,” He smiled, bending down to kiss her cheek gently, “I’ll see soon Scully.”

“Yeah,” She nodded, trying not to feel disappointed as he walked out of the room.

“Thank you for the tea darling,” Maggie smiled, cupping it with two hands, “That was nice of Fox to visit me.”

“It was,” Scully agreed, fussing over the monitor beside her mother, refusing to meet her eyes, and Maggie knew that the conversation would go no further.

-

“Thank god it’s Friday hey?”

It was the first time they’d been alone all day. Agent Miller had been stuck to Mulder’s side for days, and Scully was thankful to note he’d already left for the weekend.

“Thank goodness,” She agreed, stretching out her back after a day hunched over in the morgue.

“Sore?” He asked and she nodded, sighing.

“This old body isn’t used to doing autopsy’s all day anymore.”

“Don’t worry G woman, I still think you’ve got it.” 

“Please, hold the accolades,” He laughed, scooping up his jacket, pausing before he went to walk out the door.

“I hope you have a good weekend Scully. Maybe a salt bath is in order.”

“Yeah…” She sighed, alarmed by the overwhelming sense of disappointment she felt in watching him turn to leave.

She realised then how exhausted she was by all the things they always left unsaid, by always wanting to say more, by always holding back.

“Mulder,” She called, and he appeared back in the doorway, looking at her questioningly, “Where are you staying this weekend?”

“I just got a hotel downtown. Government dime.”

“Do you want to stay with me? I mean, I live…” She stopped, trying to the rush the words out before she lost her nerve, “I have a spare bedroom and there’s coffee.”

“Right, coffee,” Scully developed an intense interest in her suit coat, trying to swipe lint of her sleeve, “I like coffee.”

“I mean, it’s not a government-funded plush hotel but…”

“There’s coffee.”

“Yes,” She smiled, and he reached to take her hand, squeezing it gently, "There's coffee."

-

Scully couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to a bar on a Friday night, but Mulder had offered – and she had quickly accepted. DC had changed so much in the years since they had last lived there and the rooftop bar showed it off in all it’s glittery glory.

They’d been there for hours – bottles of wine had been shared. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips were stained red from the wine and it had been hours since she’d last checked the time.

“What about your hotel room?” She asked, and he almost choked on his wine, “I didn’t mean that,” She laughed, quirking her eyebrow. He had almost forgotten the sound of her laugh in the years between his abduction and the day she had finally packed up to leave. 

He had not forgotten it was his favourite sound of hers.

“I meant won’t the admin cell know if you don’t check in.”

“Fuck them if they can’t take a joke, I’m catching up with my partner.”

“Is that what I am? Your partner?”

“Scully…” He looked at her, expecting to see anger, or hurt, or regret. He didn’t expect her to be smiling.

“Come on, partner,” She lift up her handbag, “Let’s go for a walk.”

-

She had taken his arm shortly after leaving the bar, leading him on a walk down the darkened streets.

“I’ve been thinking about your question… about whether I want to go back to laughing in the rain.” She stopped walking, taking her arm out of his to cross it across her body. 

Something in his tone told her she would be needing all her defences. 

“I don’t want to go back Scully.” 

“Okay…” She began, and he could see the hurt across her face.

“We were laughing because it was so ludicrous. The whole situation.”

“Young and stupid,” She huffed at the memory, clearly unsure where he was taking the conversation.

“Right. And I don’t want to go back there. Because then I would never have had those years with you, and I wouldn’t give them back for anything.”

“Mulder, I…”

“Scully, I’m sorry. I shoud’ve said it so many times. I’m so sorry I never fought harder for us, I should’ve fought for us…. I fought for everything else, but with you I… I just…” He sighed, not sure what else he could possibly say to take back the years of hurt he had caused.

There were tears in her eyes now, and she tried fiercely to hold them back as she stepped forward to press her forehead to his, her fingers intertwining with his own. “I forgive, you idiot… I forgive you.”

“I want you to come home,” Mulder whispered, pulling her to him, tucking her head under his chin. In heels, she was the perfect fit.

“Mulder…” She sighed, shifting uncomfortably, “I don’t know…”

“Not today. Not this weekend. But I want you to come home. I’m going to fight for this Scully.” 

She smiled gently as she pulled back to look up at his face, cupping her face with his hands and pressing her thumbs to his lips.

“Tonight was a good start.” He nodded in agreeance, pushing her hair off her face to tuck it behind her ear.

“Come on, it’s getting cold,” She pulled on his hand gently, and threaded her fingers through his to pull him along.

There was silence as they walked, until Scully unexpectedly laughed.

“What is it?” He looked confused, meeting her gaze.

“Remember that time you made me go ghost busting with you on Christmas eve?”

“No, no – I didn’t make you.”

“Yes you did! You stole my keys.”

“I did nothing of the sort. You have selective memory, Dr. Scully.”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” She pressed her lips fleetingly to his, “There are some things you don’t forget.” 

For a moment, he was frozen in place and she laughed once more, holding out her hand to him, “Come on, I’ll let you convince me that the flukeman is real if you take me home and give me a back massage. These shoes are very high and I’ve been bent over dead bodies all day.”

-


End file.
